Domestic
by MaimOrSeriouslyInjure
Summary: When the TARDIS is rebooting, instead of crashing into the Titanic, it lands in Bad Wolf Bay.
1. Chapter 1

The doctor digs himself out from the sand covering his TARDIS wondering where, and when, in space he is. He feels like he should recognise this place, even though he's been to thousands of beaches in his 900+ years of life. He looks at the crashing waves, and feels a sense of tragic deja-vu.

Then it clicks. He is in Bad Wolf Bay. The last place he saw Rose... oh his Rose. 'What is she up to now? How is her mother?' he wondered as he looked out on the crashing waves. 'Is she seeing someone, did she get back together with Mickey-Oh please say no' the doctor stumbled backwards physically unable to handle the possibility that Rose would get back together with... him. 'It's not my place,' he reminded himself, 'I've no right to interfere. Who knows how long I've been gone from this dimension.'

The doctor got himself up from the sand, brushing the grains of sand off his suit as he was doing so. "I am just going to find a room for the night," he called out to his brilliant blue box. "I promise I will be back in the morning to get you out."

And with that the doctor began walking purposefully in the direction of where he was certain the closest city was. He arrived at the town just after sunset, and began looking for an ATM. He found one right on the corner of the street, went to it, and sonic'd out enough money for a hotel room and two meals. With his newly-obtained money in hand, the doctor took in the almost familiar sights of the alternate dimension London. He took in a deep breath and could smell the familiar scent of fish and chips. Of all the countless delicacies that he had tried across the Universe, the doctor would always admit that his preference was good old-fashioned London fish and chips. After the doctor finished the last crumb of his greasy delight, he began his hunt for lodgings.

He found an unremarkable chain hotel, a block up the road from the now closed Fish and Chips restaurant. "John Smith," he told the concierge, seamlessly slipping into his well-used alias "one room, one night." "Your room is two floors up, and the first one on your right, we hope you enjoy your stay!"

The doctor enjoyed the continental breakfast served by the hotel, and then returned to Bad Wolf Bay to remove his TARDIS without drawing attention to himself. The doctor was walking down the street towards the bay when he saw a figure close to where his TARDIS was buried under the sand. The doctor was wary of being spotted, so he put a TARDIS key around his neck and approached the squatting figure quietly.

"He was so brave when we were circling a black hole, in that dashing orange space suit, on his way down to the center of a planet that should have been non-existent. Your father was a brilliant man, and it hurts me every day that he can't be here with me to watch you grow. But I can't let him stay here. Not when there's the whole universe out there that needs saving. At least I have you here with me to prove that it all wasn't just the most fantastic dream of my life," the blond woman finished her speech and wrapped her arms around the little figure that was now visible to the stunned timelord. 'But that sounds like... It can't be... She said it was Jackie... A baby... Our baby?!' and with that the doctor promptly fainted. As he fell, the TARDIS key, that was used to attract attention away from himself, slipped off from around his neck. The pretty young woman turned around at the sudden sound of a fallen body, and screamed in a mixture of terror and elation "DOCTOR?"

When the unconscious timelord finally came to, he was lying on an unfamiliar couch, surrounded by baby toys. He could hear voices coming from the kitchen, but they sounded friendly enough so he closed his eyes and thought about why he might have fainted. As a timelord he had seen many terrible things, and surprising things, so he found no plausible reasoning for his recent lack of consciousness... and then it hit him.

The baby toys surrounding him, the familiar voices in the kitchen. They all made sense again. The baby... The doctor decided to try to listen to what they were saying in the kitchen, trying to get a gage on where his relationship with Rose would stand, and how long he had been gone from this alternate world.

"Mum, I know it's been a long time. I know he's missed so much of my life... so much of our lives..." the voice of his Rose trailed off shakily obviously on the verge of tears.

"Sweetie, I know you missed him, but he had no right to just up and leave you like that!"

"Mum! He had no choice! There was a war going on! He couldn't leave the human race to die out as his did."

"That gives him no excuse for him not trying to come back and care for his child before now."

"MUM! HE DIDN'T KNOW!"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE DIDN'T KNOW? ISN'T THAT WHY WE DROVE YOU TO THE BEACH, TO TELL HIM THAT YOU WERE PREGNANT?!"

"Mum. I couldn't. I know him. If he knew he would have torn open the rift to get here for us. He would stay here with us living an ordinary life. He would go crazy mum. The Universe would go insane. I had to lie to him. I had to lie to protect everybody."

"Rose, you shouldn't have to do that for the people you care about-"

"No mum. I did. I HAD to. I know all the lives he saves. All the lives he fixes. All of the lives he improves just by travelling. I can't take away that joy from him. And I can't take away the saviour from that universe."

"So Rose what did you tell him... about Christopher I mean... he could see the empty car seat from where he was standing."

"I told him he was going to be yours."

"Oh."

There was a long pause following that revelation, which the doctor took to stretch loudly, as if he had just gotten up. He looked around the room, seeing it properly for the first time. If he were to be self-indulgent, the doctor would have thought that all around the room he was surrounded by recreated mementos of their trips together... the bright orange blanket draped over the back of the couch was a shade extremely close to the colour of his pressure-altering space suit, the dark brown throw pillows looked similar to his current eye colour, and the curtains were made out of almost the exact same material as his favourite brown pinstripe suit.

Yet instead, the doctor was looking around at the mini details... the baby toys scattered around the room, Rose's empty teacup save the teabag-when did she start leaving that in?- and the calendar. It was a picture calendar with a fake three-dimensional galaxy situated above the dates. The dates which read "April 2004" He had been gone for two years.

They sat in the living room, staring at one another, each waiting for someone else to talk first. As the doctor was about to say something-anything- to make the silence more bearable, the door opened with Mickey standing behind it. "So Rose, what's up? I got your text… What's HE doing here? I thought he left us for good this time."

"Yeah, doctor. What ARE you doing back here? Do you expect us to drop our lives for you again? Because we can't do that, I can't do that," started Jackie, eager to finally confront the doctor. "Not this time. I'm finally happy doctor! I have my husband back! I have my daughter back, and I know what time she'll be home each day. No more spending my life waiting for when you think it is an opportune time to pop in for a visit, to see my daughter. I have a grandson now. Christopher's perfect. I can't let you take any of them away from me this time."

"MUM cut it out!" Rose shouted over her mother's increasingly hysteric words. "Let him explain why he's here, and how long he's staying for." Rose ended her statement looking down at her lap, resigned to the fact that her doctor must be there for an important Universal problem, and would leave her again as soon as the problem was solved.

The doctor had, however, decided to stay there with Rose for as long as he could. He wanted desperately to meet his theoretical son… "You and Mickey got back together then?" the doctor cautiously asked Rose looking down at his lap, terrified about her possible response.

"You thought… Oh, no. He's like my brother now. And he's a great babysitter," Rose assured him, but not answering his unasked question.

Mickey, acknowledging the awkward scenario Rose was in, walked fully into the flat "Jackie, fancy we pick up Pete and go out for tea? I figure these two will want some time to chat…" Jackie stood up and followed Mickey back out the room, glancing at Rose for approval before she left.

With those two gone the doctor had to ask… he couldn't stand not knowing if the baby boy was actually his… "So, who are you dating?"

Rose took in a deep breath "I haven't been able to bring myself to date anyone since Christopher's father left."

The doctor's heart sunk. Of course she dated someone else. Rose was too amazing to have to wait for him to come back. Not that he had planned to come back. Rose wasn't the kind of girl to sit around all day waiting for her knight to return. But poor Rose, having two people walking out on her. "I don't mean to pry, but why did he leave you?" the doctor couldn't stop his voice from betraying his emotion, the sorrow he felt for Rose being left, and for himself for being replaced.

She replied softly, and wistfully "He had bigger things to go. I couldn't let him stay chained. It would have been utterly selfish for me to have forced him to stay with us. I couldn't have done that to him. It would have driven him mad knowing that there were people out there that he could have been helping, but wasn't." By the end of her explanation Rose had tears running down her face, although she didn't seem to have noticed.

The doctor sat on the couch and looked at his hands, "He sounds pretty wonderful," he admitted sadly, not acknowledging the description's similarity to himself, as he was too consumed with jealousy over this man who was so important to his Rose… no not his Rose… not anymore. He had been gone too long for Rose Tyler to be his anymore.

"He was. And I'm so glad he's come back," Rose said, finally looking up at the doctor. At her words the doctor looked up and met her eyes. His questioning, worried and elated, hers betraying the joy of finding her lost timelord again, and the worry that he would flee when he heard about their son.

"You mean…. I have a…. Is he really…" the doctor stuttered, tripping over his own words in excitement and confusion.

Rose nodded, and gave him a little half-smile, "he's having a nap in his room if you want to come see him." Rose started to lead the way, not needing to look behind her to know the doctor was following after her.

The first thing the doctor noticed about the room was the big crib across from the door. Inside that crib was a baby boy… Rose's son… his son.


	2. Chapter 2

The doctor walked into the room, for some reason nervous about meeting his son. He was excited, so excited to meet this tiny life… this life that is part his. He was so excited to be here with his Rose and his son… Unless Rose didn't want him to come back. What if she was perfectly happy without him? What if she introduces him to his baby child, only to take him away?

With each new, horrifying possibility the doctor felt himself weaken. "Rose," he called out softly, "I think I need to sit down for a moment." The timelord slowly, and quietly, exited the sleeping baby's room, making his way over to the couch. Rose followed after him, ready to catch him if he were to faint again.

"Doctor, are you ok?" Rose softly asked the doctor after closing the door silently behind her.

"Yeah, just a bit" the doctor wobbled his hand to show how he was feeling. Now to ask his question, "are we ok?" He glanced up at Rose to try and gage her reaction, immensely nervous about how she might react to the question.

Rose looked at him and shook her head at the daft doctor in front of her. "Why do you think we're ok?! You have been out of my life for two years... TWO WHOLE YEARS!"

"Rose I'm sorry I thought-"

"I know what you thought, and what you still think. And after all this time, I still think you have it the wrong way around."

"But Rose you're-"

"Doctor. I know you think you aren't as wonderful as you truly are. I know you don't think you're good enough for me. But doctor you're wrong. I'm not better than you-"

"But you are Rose!"

"Doctor I've had two full years to think about it. We are equal. And that's why, even after such a long time, we are still fantastic," Rose sat down beside the doctor and snuggled close to his stunned form.

"So I can stay?" The doctor whispered, afraid that he would break the peaceful state of his Rose.

"The apartment is a bit small for two adults to live in... It was perfectly big enough for me and Christopher but-" Rose's explanation was cut off by a cry coming from the nursery. She pulled the doctor off of the couch with her as she made her way to comfort her crying child.

"Hey little guy it's alright, mummy's got you now," Rose said to the now-quiet child in her arms. He looked to be at the stage between baby and toddler. He started wiggling around, trying to reach the strange man standing behind his mother. "You want to hold him doctor?" Rose asked stretching the squirming child towards him, "it looks like Christopher wants to meet you!"

"He does, doesn't he!" the doctor said, reaching towards his only living son.

"Make sure you don't drop him!" Rose shouted after the doctor, who had started twirling around the flat with his son in utter joy.

"Rose, I've done this before….. I know you're not allowed to drop the baby," the doctor yelled back to Rose when he stopped spinning, and added in a whisper to his son, "and anyways, I will never let anyone hurt you. I can't go through that ever again. I promise I will keep you safe…. As safe as you can be, related to me." The doctor handed the small boy back over to his mother cautiously, as if he hadn't been spinning all around the flat moments before.

Rose led them into the kitchen, stuck the baby in a highchair, and began pulling out bread, jam, and peanut butter for their lunches. "So doctor, it's been two years since we last saw you here… how long has it been for you?"

The doctor sat quietly for a moment, mentally counting the number of days he had been without Rose. He knew it was a year since he had met Martha, but the days before he decided he needed to start helping people again were all a jumbled memory that seemed to have lasted a horrible lifetime, "Too long," he decided.

"What were you up to?" Rose asked the doctor, knowing that he was hiding something.

"I travelled around, made some new friends. I travelled around with Dr. Jones for a bit," he explained cautiously, hoping that Rose wouldn't be mad at him, "Martha Jones actually…"

Rose placed the knife she was using to spread the jam on their sandwiches, slowly onto the countertop. She raised her eyes to meet the doctor's, "did you leave her there?"

"What do you mean Rose?" the doctor raised one of his eyebrows, baffled about why Rose looked mad at him.

"Did you leave her there? Halfway through a conversation? Did you explain you were going to be stuck in a different dimension? Not telling her if you'd be back. Because if you did. You need to go back there. I can't let her go through that hell too." Rose said in a monotonous voice looking down at the half sandwiches in front of her. A few stray tears going slowly down her face, seeming as resigned, yet reluctant, to their fate of falling as Rose was to living without the doctor. She ignored the wetness on her face as she finished the two sandwiches.

"Rose I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry that-"The doctor began to apologize, as Rose cut him off.

" I know that you're sorry. But did you? I don't care if you found somebody else. You're… you. People would be crazy not to have noticed…." She trailed off briefly with a reminiscing smile on her face, before shaking her head slightly and continued on with determination, "I can forgive you if you found someone else…. Just not if you left them the way you left me."

The doctor gently grabbed Rose's chin, and raised it so that she was looking into his eyes so that she could see that he was being sincere, "Rose, Martha was just a friend. And she was the one who left me. Her family needed her." But I needed her more- he thought a bit bitterly, before Rose pulled away from his now lonely looking eyes and pulled out a jar of baby food out of the fridge and a spoon from the drawer, setting them on the counter in front of Chris's highchair.

Rose placed the doctor's sandwich in front of him as she gathered up the utensils she had used to prepare their sandwiches and began to clean them. The doctor, instead of starting his lunch, opened the baby food and began to fly the food into Chris's mouth like it was a miniature spaceship. When Rose had turned back around after washing the dishes, Chris had the carrot mush all over his cheeks, and the doctor had managed to get a streak of it in his hair. She could barely stifle a laugh at the sight of her two boys, covered in the orange goop.

"Here doctor, I'll take Chris to rinse this mess off his face, and you can go freshen yourself up in the guest bathroom," Rose said, picking up the messy two-year old, both mother and son were in a fit of giggles at the mess that was made.

As he walked towards the guest bathroom, The Doctor glanced back over his shoulder and smiled at the giggling duo, wondering how he hadn't checked up with Rose before now. _I can't leave them now_ he thought to himself as he combed out his fluffy, carrot-streaked hair, _not with little Christopher to look after and watch grow… the domestic life can't be that bad._

The doctor finished cleaning his hair and began making his way towards Rose's voice, which was talking to Chris in the kitchen, when he was interrupted by a knock at the flat's front door. The doctor, assuming it was Jackie, or Mickey, decided to get the door for Rose.

But instead, standing at the door was an unfamiliar face to the doctor. The man standing at the doorway was an average height with light brown hair and dark blue eyes. "Is Rose here?" the man asked the doctor, "I need to speak with her…. Immediately."


End file.
